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Ioun stones, originally called Congenio's pebbles and later Ioun's stones, were magical stones that floated around a bearer's head and granted a range of enhancements or powers to a creature.[11][5][12][1]

Contents

Description

Powers

When one acquired a stone and wished to receive its benefits, they had to first hold it for a brief time and then release it. Thereafter, when functioning, the ioun stone floated in a circular pattern around the bearer's head, at a distance of 1–3 ft (30–91 cm). They could only bestow their benefit on an owner when within this range. Two stones of the same type would repel each other.[11][5] Another person could try to catch or net the stone to steal it, or break it. The bearer could freely grab and pocket a stone, such as when going to sleep, to keep it safe, but they could no longer receive its benefits.[5]

The stones granted various benefits based on their color, as listed below. When drained of power, a stone became a dull grey, but it still possessed the characteristic floating power.[11] Although they were useless for magical purposes, they retained sufficient resonance for a psionicist to extract a smidgeon of psionic energy—enough for the lowest of unaugmented powers—before it became completely burned out.[13]

As with other items that could store magical energy, the pale lavender ellipsoid, lavender-and-green ellipsoid, and vibrant-purple prism could store spellfire. In turn, they could also be drained by a spellfire wielder.[14]

Creation

Ioun stones could only be created by a veteran spellcaster well versed in the crafting of wondrous magical items.[5]

Only certain types of gemstone could be transformed into an ioun stone through application of the appropriate and generally secret spells. These gems were known collectively as "the nine secrets", though there were at least ten. These were amethyst,[15]chrysoberyl, chrysoprase,[16]greenstone, hematite (though this was rarely known to even powerful wizards), iol (also known as iolite or cordierite, and the most effective of the gems),[17]Laeral's tears (most little known and rarest of the gems),[18]obsidian (the most well known), onyx,[19] and sardonyx.[20] In the time of ancient Netheril, the gems and stones selected for enchantment were actually imperfect or flawed, with the exception of the perfect euhedral stone.[1]

Some ioun stones were apparently created using essences taken from a soul, and bestowed the benefits of these upon their owners. According to legend, the pearly-white ovoid was created from the enslaved soul of a troll, and granted the troll's ability to regenerate wounds. The pale-green ovoid came about when the dying warrior Rigar Trueblood begged his companion, the mage Spectorial, to preserve his skill and fortitude in battle. Although reluctant, Spectorial acceded and extracted these qualities from Rigar's soul, placing them in an ioun stone so that others might benefit from them.[2][3] The unique Malla's Soul Stone, which acted as an ioun stone, contained the soul of an innocent young woman, and conferred many different benefits.[4]

On the other hand, some ioun stones seem to have merely been created from the blood of creatures with the necessary essences. Legend told that the Trollblood stone, a dark-green sphere, was created from the blood of seven trolls that had each been captured and, over seven nights, used in experiments in magic. The ioun stone that was produced conferred a weaker form of a troll's ability to regenerate wounds, but also gave great skill in slaying trolls in combat.[2]

There was value in burned-out ioun stones; for example, an apothecary in Loudwater in 1479 DR sold them.[21]

Other applications

Ioun stones did not need to be set orbiting the head; it was possible to mount them in magical items kept close to the body. One possible example was the ioun blade, a +1 dagger with a socket in its hilt or pommel that could hold an ioun stone and bestow its benefit upon the wielder.[22]

History

Congenio Ioun, an early arcanist of the Nether Age of Netheril, created the first ioun stones[12][23] in the year 397 NY (−3462 DR). This was a previously unheard-of achievement: he was aged only 33 and this was the first magical item he had created, marking him as one of the greatest arcanists of his age.[12] He initially called them Congenio's pebbles. Congenio worked under the (mistaken) assumption that only small or slender items—pebbles, small stones, pieces of cloth, daggers, and the like—could be enchanted to bear magic, and so he worked exclusively with small, semi-polished stones. He also adopted the self-imposed limitation of enchanting all stones of the same shape with the same spell, making them more consistent for buyers and eliminating confusion.[1]

Congenio's pebbles soon became enormously popular with his fellow arcanists.[12] Over the next 54 years, the anhedral, echinid, hexagonoid, spindle, pebble, star, and round stones were developed and introduced.[1]

In 451 NY (−3408 DR), at the suggestion of a close friend, Congenio renamed his pebbles to the much more catchy Ioun's stones.[12][1] Under this name, the cephaloid, cube, cylinder, decipton, dendroid, dodecahedron, ellipsoid, enneid, euhedral, hectoid, helicid, heptid, monoclinoid, nephroid, ovoid, octahedron, orthorhomboid, peg, pentahedron, prism, pyramid, rectangle, septahedron, sexahedron, tile, and tredyhedron stones were created and became widespread in Netheril.[1]

Congenio himself created over thirty of these, including the prism that allowed one to see in the dark and another that granted its holder a temporarily raised level of experience and might.[12][1][note 1] He was never seen without them orbiting his head. He lived an incredibly long life, almost a thousand years, and some wondered if one of his stones was responsible for his longevity. Congenio finally passed away in 1319 NY (−2540 DR), but for his creations his name lived on for millennia.[12]

After his death, a number of other arcanists continued his work. These researchers made breakthroughs in Congenio's original design, by simply ignoring his consistent design and placing their own spells in whatever gem they had, no matter its shape. The stones became generally known as simply ioun stones around 1365 NY (c. −2494 DR). From this time on, the triclinid, tubule, decahedron, heptahedron, lozenge, rhomboid, rod, sphere, stelloid, and tetrapton were invented.[1]

A unique incandescent blue sphere surfaced around 1311 DR in Icewind Dale. In a past age, the githzerai craftsman Bashenee had created it for a great githzerai monk, who later fell in battle with githyanki. It circulated among them for many years, until it was given to the mind flayerOinchack'olp, who treated it as a prized possession. Oinchack'olp was roaming the Underdark beneath Icewind Dale when he lost it, and some driders found it. Oinchack'olp ordered some passing adventurers to retrieve it.[24]

In the 1360s DR, the blood-red sphere, which improved balance, reflexes, and hand–eye coordination, was in great demand among those who used such skills such as rogue, thieves, and their ilk.[2] Similarly, mages and wizards eagerly sought the bronze ovoid, which allowed one to memorize an extra high-level arcane spell, and the golden ovoid, which increased intellect.[4]

Notable collections

The arch-lich Larloch, with some of his many ioun stones circling his head.

In the time of Netheril, Congenio's pebbles and Ioun's stones were in great demand among arcanists.[12]

Larloch, the Shadow King, the arch-lich of Warlock's Crypt and a long-surviving arcanist of Netheril, possessed over two dozen ioun stones, which orbited his skull at all times, giving him a wide variety of powers, protections, and enhancements. Some were much more powerful than their regular versions, and he had multiples of some.[25][26]

The Wyvern Crown of Cormyr was inlaid with ten ioun stones on the tips of its spikes. None of the stones could be removed from the Crown without destroying them, not without a wish spell on each stone.[27]

A ring of a dozen ioun stones was occasionally sighted hovering above the River Vesper in the Vast from the 1350s DR on. The stones avoided efforts to grab them, and by 1370 DR, no one with a net, the ability to fly, or a magical means of catching one was lucky enough to spot the ring. A tale told in riverside taverns claimed that anyone who could grab one of the ioun stones could keep it, but was also compelled by a geas to perform some dangerous task, with a different task for each stone.[28]

Known ioun stones

The following tables list the known ioun stones in each era, together with their benefits, costs, and other details.

In addition to these, it was rumored that Congenio Ioun himself had created another stone that had given him his great longevity; he lived almost a thousand years. He was also recorded as creating another that granted its holder a temporarily raised level of experience and might.[12]

Immunity to fear when among allies, and cannot be forced to strike an ally[9]

425,000

Ioun Stone of Sustenance

Rhombic stone

May go without food, drink, or air indefinitely, and only need half the normal rest time[9]

225,000

Ioun Stone of True Sight

Dark blue rhomboid

Darkvision, great insight and perceptiveness, and power to see invisible creatures once a day[8]

1,125,000

Appendix

Background

The ioun stone has its basis in the IOUN stone (written all in capitals) appearing in the short story "Morreion" by Jack Vance, whose Dying Earth series was very influential on early Dungeons & Dragons. "Morreion" was first published in the Flashing Swords! #1 anthology in 1973. Here, IOUN stones are valuable items that nullify magic and are extracted at great risk from the cores of dead stars. With Vance's permission, the ioun stone was first developed for D&D in 'The Strategic Review #4 (1975).

The article "Bazaar of the Bizarre: Ioun Stones" in Dragon #174 (1991) mentions Vance's IOUN stones, but presents an alternate origin, stating that ioun stones grow naturally but rarely on the Demiplane of Mineral. It also describes the idea that powerful human wizards simply manufacture ioun stones as uninteresting and lacking adventure.

Nevertheless, Netheril: Empire of Magic (1996) does just that, telling that the powerful human wizard Congenio Ioun invented them, and that subsequent wizards manufactured more, as recounted in this article. Since this is Forgotten Realms material, this is the version adopted for this wiki.

D&D would once again forget and recreate the origin of the ioun stone when the 4th edition introduced a goddess of knowledge and prophecy called Ioun, inspired by the ioun stone. Open Grave presents a cursed artifact called the Jet Black Ioun Stone, and says that the goddess Ioun created ioun stones (including the Jet Black) to spread knowledge in all forms. However, she was not introduced to the 4th edition of the Forgotten Realms setting (although Zehir was, who had a hand in the Jet Black), so it must be assumed that neither the goddess Ioun, her creation of the ioun stones, or the Jet Black Ioun Stone exist in the setting. This leaves only their creation by the mortal wizard Congenio Ioun and others.

Notes

↑Apart from the prism, it is unknown which pebbles and stones were created by Congenio and which by fellow arcanists, but it is clear that the majority were made by Congenio. It is also clear that Congenio created some stones that are not listed.